Stencil.



F. M. WEST.

STENCIL...

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12. 1912.

1,1 34,571., Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

WITNESSES ZI I 0R I Q, 6 l BY l 1 TTORNEY HIE NORRIS PETERS c0. PHOTO-LITHCL. WASHINGTON, D. c

rn sr'rrs :PATENT orrc FRANCIS M. WEST, or Yoivxnns, NEW YORK, assrenon To ARTHUR B. WARING; or

- YONKERS, NEW YORK. 1

' To all whom t't'may concern:

srnivcm Be it known that-I, FRANCIS M. VVEs'r, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at Yonkers, New Y ork, have invented the fol-' lowing new and useful Improvements in Stencils. l p p invention relates to stencils and more particularly to hollow shell-form stencils for use in decorating hat bodies; a

One ob]ect of my invention is to provlde 1 an improved reticulated plate or hollow shell stencil, by electro-depositing metal upon a conducting surface havingthe general shape of-the hat body and previously prepared according to the form or outline of the decorative design to be applied.

Other objects and advantages ofmy invention will be set forth hereinafter, and

in order that my invention may be thoroughly understood, I will now proceed to describe the same in the following specifi cation and then point'out the novel features thereof in appended claims.

In the drawing forming part hereof, Fig-' ure 1 represents a partly sectional view of the bed and backing for the conducting surface; Fig. 2 a detail of the wire conduc-' tor in section; Fig. 3 represents an elevation detail, showing a design worked upon the conducting surface; Fig. 4 is a section of the stencil on removal, in slightly enlarged scale; Fig. 5 the same after coating;

and Fig. 6 represents the completed stencil.

In carryingout the invention I make a suitable support or backing for the conducting surface, as shown at 1, giving to it approximately the external shape of the hatbody or other article to be decorated; that is I to say, the shape of a cone with a rounded top like that of a hat-body before it has been shaped with crown and brim portion. Such cone-shaped support may be made hollow and of plaster Paris and is also providedwith a'hook 2 or other form of attachment means by which it can be suspended in the electrolytic bath from the ter- 1 minal bar thereof. A film of wax, 3, is applied to the outer surface of thecone-shaped backing 1, as for example by dipping it one or more times in melted wax, which will bring the overall dimensions of the waxcovered support to the size desired, and

which should be about the same as, or a little larger than, that of the hat body which the stencil is to be used to decorate.

Specification of. Letters Patent.

Application filed July 12, 1912. 7 Serial No. 709,055

which is for the purpose ofexposing the Patented At the same time as applying the wax covering, a' circular wire 4 is placed against Apr, 6, 1915.

the lower and outer margin of the support covering the wire, as shown at 5 in Fig. 1,

wire at suchpoint or points so that'it may thereby have suitable electrical contactwith the graphitesurface, thusputt'ing the same in electrical connection with the suspension'hook 2. The design'for the stencil is then worked on the conducting graphite surface of the wax, as illustrated by Fig; 3. Thisrha ybe done by'scraping or removing the graphite from the portions desired to be reproduced as openings 1n the stencil as indicated at 6, or it can be done by applying the graphite only to those portions desired to be reproduced as the solid or imperforate part of the stenoil; in either case producing on the bed surface a design made out of conducting material and conforming to the design desired for the stencil. The backing or support with the design worked thereon is then gradually introduced into, the electrolytic bath, by immersing it first at the place or places where connection has been madewith the wire, so as to build. up substantial metallic bonds at these points between thewire and the adjacent, decorated, graphite surface. The rest of the waxcovering the wire" is then. removed so as to uncover the whole or the greater part of it, and the electrodepositing process continued until metal has'been deposited all over the graphiteconducting surface as well as the surface of the wire, to a sufiicient thickness to en-,

,able the resulting reticulate' shell to be re moved and handled without collapse. Such.

removal can be easily accomplished by im-" mersion in hot water which softens the wax. and releases the metal. The wire 4 will be found more or less enveloped by the deposited metal film and in any event so securely attached to it as to serve the purpose an ordinary wire-bead flange which it closely resembles. The metal shell is then cleaned and coated with a covering to smooth and fill in its rough surfaces and give it further stiffness. This coating may be applied by dipping the whole shell in molten lead or other low-fusing metal, which on removal will form a thin coating on the inside as well as the outside without however appreciably affecting or filling in the stencil openings which will remain the same size and with rather sharp edges by i reason of the tendency of fluid metal to collect in mound form on the intervening fiat surfaces. It is preferred however to coat only one side of the shell which is done by flowing solder thereon. Fig. 5 shows a cross-section ofthe stencil as thus coated,7 being the solid parts of the original stencil shell between the openings 6, and 8 being the solder coating on the intervening flat parts, mounded over asdescribed. The design originally worked on the graphitesurface, and reproduced inthe stencil 9 shown in Fig. 6, can thereupon be transferred to the hat body in an obvious way and will form thereon a design which is peripherally continuous and unmarred by any interruptions in its uniformity of effect. It will be understood that the hatbody, after receiving such stenciled design is thereafter suitably worked and finished, but such subsequent treatment forms no part of my invention and description thereof is therefore omitted. It will be understood, moreover, that the particular design given to the stencil is unimportant to the method of its formation, provided it is such as will form a continuous conductor for the current, and it will be observed that the effect thereof will be that of a hand-made design following the effect produced by hand on the waxed surface.

I claim:

A stencil of the kind described comprising a hollow thin electro-deposited metal shell having reticulations formed therein to represent an ornamental design, a reinforcing wire embedded in the shell near its edge and a reinforcing flowed metal coating on one side having the form of mounds between said reticulations, whereby the edges thereof are relatively sharp.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS M. WEST. Witnesses:

G. A. TAYLOR, H. Gr. KIMBALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

